Inside a former KGB Prison Potsdam

Former KGB Prison Potsdam – Gedenk-und Begegnungsstätte Leistikowstraße, Potsdam

You can’t say that Berlin isn’t filled with history. From the Third Reich through to the Cold War, Berlin has been at the centre of European history. Here we find a piece of history which covers both pre and post World War Two.

Tucked away in the tranquil Nauener Vorstadt district, is a former KGB prison Potsdam. The site at Leistikowstraße offers a glimpse into Soviet-occupied East Germany.

The building was constructed in 1916 as a vicarage housing a local clergyman, a women’s charity and a church newspaper.

However, following the Potsdam Conference in 1945, Potsdam’s Nauener Vorstadt suburb became part of a restricted Soviet military enclave known as “Militärstädtchen Nr. 7” (“Military Town No. 7”). This enclave acted as the principal base of Soviet intelligence and control in East Germany, and the vicarage building was repurposed as a remand prison for the Soviet secret police (KGB).

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Post-War (1945–1954)

The first inmates included both Soviet soldiers accused of military offences and German citizens accused of complicity in Nazi crimes or suspected of underground resistance activities. Some were tried and executed, while many others were deported to Soviet gulags or interned in “special camps” such as Sachsenhausen or Buchenwald.

Cold War (1954–1980s)

After the early 1950s, the facility mainly held members of the Soviet military stationed in East Germany who were alleged to be spies, deserters, or those attempting to flee to the West.

End of Soviet Control and Transformation (1990–Present)

After the collapse of the Soviet Union and Germany’s reunification agreements (Soviet forces left Germany by 1994). The building — which had already been partly repurposed in the late 1980s — was returned first to local authorities and then to the Protestant church charity that had originally commissioned it.
Amnesty International briefly used part of the space in the 1990s, and the first exhibition on the building’s history opened in 1997.

What to see inside the former KGB Prison in Potsdam

The concrete bunker-looking building at the corner of Große Weinmeisterstraße and Leistikowstraße is where you will find the reception for the museum. They will direct you to the entrance to the building and let you wander around. There are guided tours on certain days, check the website for Memorial and Meeting Place Leistikowstraße Potsdam for up to date information.

Inside the old prison, you’ll find rooms with information about life in the centre, the prisoners’ stories and artefacts from its past.